Software applications that run on computing systems typically provide some type of user interface to present information to the user and receive user inputs. User testing attempts to determine a user's level of satisfaction or ease of use that the user experiences when operating or interacting with the user interface of a software application. Some usability testing depends on click tracking or examination of other user inputs, eye tracking, or navigation analysis, but some kinds of user testing require direct feedback from a user.
When a software user is performing a task with the software, seeking feedback on the user interface often results in an interruption of that task. Unfortunately, interrupting a user's workflow by requesting feedback has an impact on the experience being measured, which is commonly referred to as the observer effect. Additionally, feedback devices are often intrusive and can even navigate a user away from the task at hand. For example, a user viewing a webpage may be presented with a pop-up window asking for the user's feedback, effectively blocking the webpage from the user's view.